From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishplateauplat‧eau1 /ˈplætəʊ $ plæˈtoʊ/ ●○○ noun (plural plateaus or plateaux /-təʊz $ -ˈtoʊz/) [countable] 1 SGa large area of flat land that is higher than the land around it2 PERIOD OF TIMEa period during which the level of something does not change, especially after a period when it was increasing Inflation rates have reached a plateau.
Examples from the Corpus
plateau• The fifteenth, seemingly relatively tame at 167 yards, had a plateau green that sloped from right to left.• The king's highway, an important trade route, ran down the eastern plateau.• Then teammate Joel Zide of Northridge quickened the pace to reach the five-fish plateau first.• We inched up over the ridge and began our descent on to the high, tree-stippled plateau of far western Chihuahua.• Alkaline basalts record the passage of the plateau over a hotspot during the Eocene.• This place, the plateau, was where we'd spend most of our time on Back Hill.• They were tired and ill and they could not walk up to the plateau.• The plateau was a far cry from the workaday cottages by the harbour.plateauplateau2 verb [intransitive] if something plateaus, it reaches and then stays at a particular level The athletic footwear market has not yet plateaued.→ See Verb tableFrom Longman Business Dictionaryplateauplat‧eau1 /ˈplætəʊplæˈtoʊ/ verb [intransitive] if something plateaus, it reaches and then stays at a particular levelThe athletic footwear market has not yet plateaued.→ See Verb tableplateauplateau2 noun [countable usually singular] a period during which the level of something does not change, especially after it has been increasingThe rate of inflation has reached a plateau.Origin plateau1 (1700-1800) French Old French platel “flat piece of metal”, from plat; → PLATE1 